Jacks play midweek game at Minnesota

Wednesday, February 26

Minneapolis, Minn. [U.S. Bank Stadium]

6 p.m.

South Dakota State University

Minnesota

Photo by: SDSU Sports Information

2/25/2020 3:13:00 PM | Baseball

Game 7: South Dakota State (1-5) at Minnesota (3-4)

When	Wednesday, Feb. 26 \| 6 p.m.
Where	U.S. Bank Stadium \| Minneapolis, Minn.
TV	FloBaseball.tv (subscription)\| Big Ten Network Plus (subscription)
Radio	None
Live Stats	GopherSports.com
Game Notes	South Dakota State \| Minnesota \| The Summit League
Social Media	Twitter \| Instagram \| #RAB5

BROOKINGS, S.D. — The South Dakota State University baseball team returns to the diamond Wednesday with a matchup against Minnesota.

First pitch is set for 6 p.m. at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. Video coverage will be available online through FloBaseball.tv and BTN+ (subscription required).

SDSU enters the midweek game 1-5 overall after dropping two of three games this past weekend at Pacific (Calif.). The Jackrabbits are in the midst of a stretch of playing their first 23 games of the season on the road.

Minnesota fell to 3-4 on the season after losing two of three games in a wrap-around home weekend series against TCU.The Golden Gophers won the middle game of the series, 7-6, at U.S. Bank Stadium while dropping the other two games by respective scores of 12-0 and 11-2.

Wednesday's game is scheduled to be the first of three midweek matchups between SDSU and Minnesota this season. The two squads are slated to meet against next Wednesday (March 4) at U.S. Bank Stadium, with the series concluding April 15 with a game at Siebert Field on the University of Minnesota campus.

THE SERIES: Wednesday's game against Minnesota will mark the 49th time SDSU and the Golden Gophers have met on the baseball diamond. Minnesota leads the all-time series, which dates back to 1947, by a 36-12 count, winning each of the last six matchups.

SDSU's last win in the series was a 7-6, 10-inning victory at Erv Huether Field on May 17, 2016.

Minnesota swept the two-game season series in 2019, winning games at Siebert Field by scores of 5-1 (April 16) and 5-0 (May 7).

Ryan McDonald provided the lone Jackrabbit run in the first matchup by leading off the top of the second inning with his third home run of the season.

In the May 7 meeting, Minnesota scored all five of its runs in the first two innings. Eduardo Estrada doubled in the Golden Gophers' first-inning run and added an RBI?on a bases-loaded walk as part of a four-run second inning. Eli Wilson capped the scoring with a two-run single.

Gopher reliever Nick Lackney inherited a bases-loaded situation with one out in the fifth inning and finished with four strikeouts in an inning and two-thirds in picking up the win.

PRESEASON POLL: South Dakota State has been picked to finish third in the upcoming Summit League baseball race, according to a poll conducted among conference coaches that was announced Feb. 6 by league officials.

The Jackrabbits received two of the six first-place votes, finishing with 18 points. Oral Roberts received three first-place votes and topped the poll with 23 points, followed by defending league champion Omaha with one first-place vote and 19 points.

Rounding out the poll were: North Dakota State, 16 points; Western Illinois, 9 points, and Purdue Fort Wayne, 5 points.

Among the Jackrabbit returners, juniors Gus Steiger and Bret Barnett were recognized among the Summit League's top players to watch.

A two-time all-Summit League honoree, Steiger paced the Jackrabbits offensively in 2019 with team highs in batting average (.324), hits (73) runs scored (45), runs batted in (43), doubles (13) and stolen bases (18). He also ranked second on the squad with five home runs in starting all 50 games.

Steiger, a native of Minnetonka, Minnesota, was a first-team all-Summit selection at shortstop in 2019, after earning second-team recognition as a second baseman his freshman year.

Barnett emerged as the top relief pitcher in the Summit League during the 2019 season, earning first-team honors after posting a 5-1 record with seven saves. The left-hander from Indianola, Iowa, registered a 1.31 earned run average, struck out 47 batters in 34 1/3 innings and limited opposing hitters to a .138 batting average.

Summit League play is slated to begin March 13, when SDSU opens a three-game set at Oral Roberts. League teams will play a pair of three-game series (home and home) for a total of 30 regular season contests.

The top four teams during the regular season will advance to the 2020 Summit League Baseball Championship, which is scheduled for May 20-23 in Omaha, Nebraska.

LAST WEEK: The Jackrabbits picked up their first win of the season in their series opener at Pacific, but dropped the other two games as the Tigers rallied in their last at-bat. All three games were decided by one run.

Game 1 Recap | Game 2 Recap | Game 3 Recap

SHORT HOPS: Following are some notes regarding the South Dakota State baseball team out of its three-game series against Pacific:

SDSU has played error-free baseball in four of six games this season;
The Jackrabbits dropped to 0-2 in extra-inning games this season and 1-3 in one-run games;
Freshman left-hander Rick Atkins has picked off a baserunner in each of his two starts this season;
Braeden Brown recorded a pair of multi-hit games in the Pacific series and extended his hitting streak to five games (active streak);
Luke Ira had his streak of reaching base safely, which dated back to the 2019 season, end at nine consecutive games in the series finale versus Pacific;
Ira doubled twice in the second game of the Pacific series, joining Gus Steiger (Feb. 15 at Dallas Baptist) as Jackrabbits to accomplish the feat so far this season;
In Game 2 of the Pacific series, SDSU scored in double figures for the first time since a 12-2 victory over Purdue Fort Wayne on May 5, 2019;
Jackrabbit pitchers combined to issue 21 walks and strike out only 14 batters in the series;
Five different players have hit home runs for the Jackrabbits this season, with Wyatt Andersen, Landon Badger and Derek Hackman each hitting their first home runs of the year in the three-game series at Pacific;
Of SDSU's five home runs so far this season, only one has been a solo homer — three have been two-run shots and one a three-run blast;
The Jackrabbits have outscored the opposition by a combined 13-3 in the sixth (8-3) and seventh (5-0) innings of games so far this season.

BARNETT EARNS PRESEASON HONORS: South Dakota State University relief pitcher Bret Barnett was named in December to the Preseason All-America Second Team by Collegiate Baseball.

A native of Indianola, Iowa, Barnett entered his junior season after turning in one of the best seasons ever by a Jackrabbit hurler during the 2019 campaign. The left-hander posted a 5-1 record with a team-high seven saves in 20 appearances. His 1.31 earned run average was the third-lowest single-season mark by a Jackrabbit with more than 30 innings pitched.

Barnett also struck out 47 batters in 34.1 innings and held the opposition to a .138 batting average en route to first-team all-Summit League honors. He did not allow a run over his last seven appearances and brought a scoreless streak of 13.1 innings into the 2020 season.

Barnett was the lone Summit League player honored on the preseason All-America squad.

In addition, Barnett was recently named to the 2020 Stopper of the Year Preseason Watch List selected by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.

MOGEN SETS UP AGAIN: Senior relief pitcher Brett Mogen picked up where he left off from the 2019 season with four shutout innings in his first appearance of the 2020 campaign Feb. 15 versus Dallas Baptist.

The right-hander from Dell Rapids struck out three and walked three, while limiting DBU to two hits.

Dating back to last season, Mogen ran his scoreless innings streak to 16 — over seven appearances — before allowing a run in the series finale at Pacific. He opened the series with three shutout innings in helping lead the Jackrabbits to a 2-1 win in the Feb. 21 series opener.

Mogen finished 2019 with a 1.67 earned run average in sharing the team lead with 20 appearances. His 2019 ERA?ranks as the sixth-best in a season by a Jackrabbit who pitched more than 30 innings.

IRONMAN BEHIND THE PLATE: Jackrabbit catcher Derek Hackman has been behind the plate for 53 of the 55 innings SDSU has been in the field so far this season.

The junior from Johnston, Iowa, ranks second on the team with 34 putouts and stands fourth on the team with five hits.

BACK-TO-BACK JACKS: When Matt Krambeck and Drew Beazley hit back-to-back home runs in the Feb. 15 game at Dallas Baptist, it marked the first time the Jackrabbits connected on consecutive circuit clouts in nearly a full calendar year.

The last time SDSU accomplished the feat was Feb. 16, 2019, versus UT?Martin, when Logan Holtz and Ryan McDonald went back-to-back in the fifth inning. That also was the second game of the season.

COACH BISHOP: Rob Bishop, who has guided college baseball teams to more than 600 victories, was named head baseball coach at South Dakota State University on Aug. 1, 2016. Bishop is the ninth head coach in program history and the fourth in the Division I era of Jackrabbit baseball.

Now in his fourth season with the Jackrabbits, Bishop holds a 73-83 record at SDSU.

In his first season, Bishop's 2017 squad returned to the winning side of the ledger with a 26-24 overall mark, including an 18-12 record for a third-place finish in The Summit League standings. SDSU won its opening-round game in the Summit League Baseball Championship, 6-5, over second-seeded North Dakota State.

In 2018, SDSU overcame a slow start to post a winning record in Summit League play at 14-13 and went on to reach the title game of the Summit League Baseball Championship. The Jackrabbits finished with an 18-32 overall record during a campaign in which they played only six home games.

SDSU bounced back in 2019, posting a 28-22 overall record that included a second-place mark of 19-10 in Summit League play. The Jackrabbits won or split nine of the 10 league series in regular season play en route to making an appearance in the four-team Summit League Baseball Championship for the 10th time in 11 years.

Overall, Bishop has compiled a 622-405-1 record (.606 winning percentage) as a collegiate head coach. He earned his 600th career victory in the Jackrabbits' 8-6 victory at UA Little Rock on March 10, 2019.

Individually, Jackrabbit players have been honored as all-Summit League performers 18 times during his brief tenure, including eight all-league selections in 2019. Utility player Nick Smith was honored for the third consecutive season, while shortstop Gus Steiger and starting pitcher Tyler Olmstead were repeat selections in 2019.

In addition, catcher Luke Ringhofer was selected in the 22nd round of the 2017 Major League Baseball Draft by the Baltimore Orioles and relief pitcher Chris Halbur was offered a free agent contract by the Los Angeles Dodgers after Bishop's first season in Brookings. In 2019, left-handed pitcher Brady Stover was a 31st-round pick of the Washington Nationals, but opted to return to the Jackrabbits for his senior season.

Prior to becoming head coach at SDSU, Bishop spent six years at NCAA Division II member Montana State University-Billings, where he led the Yellowjackets to back-to-back Great Northwest Athletic Conference regular season titles in 2015 and 2016, attaining the program's first-ever 30-win season with a 30-20 record in 2016. His squads also were honored as the top academic team in the GNAC each of the past three seasons.

Previously, Bishop spent 10 years at Miles City Community College in Montana, where his teams won MonDak conference championships every year. His squads also claimed five consecutive junior college region titles and a Northwest District championship in 2007 to advance to the NJCAA Division II College World Series. Bishop's teams won at least 30 games each of his 10 seasons, including four 40-win seasons. He ended his tenure at Miles City with a 377-151 overall record.

He also served as athletic director the last five years of his tenure at Miles City.

Bishop served as a graduate assistant at SDSU under head coach Mark Ekeland during the 1998 and 1999 seasons. In his first season as a head coach, Bishop led Huron University to the South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference title in 2000 with a 38-18 record.

A 1994 graduate of Jamestown College, Bishop earned NAIA All-America honors during the 1992 and 1994 seasons as an infielder.

THE ROSTER: The 2019 SDSU baseball roster features 31 players from four different states. Of the 31 players, 14 are from Iowa, eight are from South Dakota, seven hail from Minnesota and two are Nebraska natives.

By class, seven are seniors, three are juniors, eight are sophomores and 13 are incoming freshmen.

A LOOK AHEAD: The Jackrabbits continue play on the road by traveling to Edinburg, Texas, for a four-game weekend series at UT Rio Grande Valley. The series begins with a 7 p.m. contest Friday, followed by a doubleheader starting at 3 p.m. on Saturday. The series concludes Sunday with a noon matchup. All four games will be played at UTRGV Baseball Stadium.

-GoJacks.com-